well I finally finished 85% of my body work and now it is time to think about primer. I plan on going with a BC/CC set up and I am 95% sure I will go with black. My question is, I have a air compressor and access to a decent paint gun but unfortunantly I dont have alot of room to paint in my garage, so would it be a good idea maybe to use some high quality rattle can primer? My goal is to save as much cash as possible by doing all the block sanding and body lines myself but still make the paint look great. I figure a good amout of the primer will be sanded off by blocking so who would know the difference but I dont know if somehow the formula for rattlecan primer was different than regular primer, and if it would mess with the bc/cc.

thanks

 

spring for some you can use in your gun. you have a local ppg store ? go there and get some epoxy primer. very economical and a good fill-in on the fiberglass. i even did some of mine outside on a calm day especially if your going block sand it anyway. its not the final coat.

 

i am in the process of painting my car in my garage. i have never painted a car before either. however, i must say, i could not imagine doing it with spray cans. here is why...

1. by mixing it yourself you can thin it out for a sealer and then spray it thick to build up.

2. guns shoot better and are adjustable. cans arent

3. you are gonna need a lot of cans.

4. you will need some spare index fingers.

5. i am not sure it will be cheaper but havent done the math.

i bet if you have room to spray can it you have room to shoot it. i couldnt imagine spray canning a whole car two or three times.

i recomend shooting it with a gun.

 

Epoxy primer/Filler of the same manufacturer as the paint you are going to use.

Dupont , PPG , whatever; just make sure you only use 01 brand.

Spray primer from a gun. A little practise will be an immense benefit when time to final paint.

 

Modern primer uses a hardener, where a spray can is basically old lacquer. Spray can primer will not build very thick, either. If you are going with black, definitely use the better primer.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I figured the spray gun was better. I looked at my situation again tonight And I barely have enough room to do the primer, not going to risk it with the bc/cc. I glazed the car with filler then blocked it so it is pretty smooth already. I figure black will show imperfections because it is the least forgiving, if I start with a smooth car it will have a beter chance on staying that way.

thanks

 

Stay in the same manufacturers line for all your painting products. Nothing like getting some cheap "fo-fo can" paint under a finish coat that becomes uncompatible and starts to bubble or lift! You wouldn't be very happy. Just like building an engine, there is really no place to pinch a penny here.

Safety!

They only issue you one set of lungs and the paint you use will coat them just like your Corvette. Make sure you use the proper respirator when painting. If you use epoxy primers, get the special filters for your mask. Check them out at your local paint supplier. Some of those paints are pretty toxic so beware. Read the MSD sheets.

Doesn't do any good to put a knock-out paint job on your car if you are not around to enjoy it.

Good luck with your paint.

Bob

 

Body and pre-prep paint work is SOOOO labor intensive, don't skimp by going with cheap materials. Your labor and time are worth way more than you'd save with rattle cans and I don't think you'd save that much. Not only that, but BC/CC paint systems are very expensive so why risk $500-600 worth of paint because you skimped on your primer costs?

Go with the best primers and materials you can. 90% of a great paint job is due to the prep work that goes into the job before the actual paint ever hits a panel.

BTW, just my opinion, but if you're going with a straight black color you might look into a good single stage paint system. Where the BC/CC systems shine (pardon the pun ) is with metallic paints where the clearcoat sets off the depth of the metallic basecoat. Very good results can be had with single stage systems and solid colors. They are less expensive but no less durable.

One more thing, you can spray a urethane or polyester primer through your spray gun and not need super clean conditions. You could even do this in your driveway on a calm day if the temperature is right. A little bit of dirt is not a big deal when you're at the primer stage because you can sand it out. Most if it will be sanded away as you block it out, anyway. You'll just never get the fill qualities with a rattlecan that you can with the newer technology primers.

 

First off. Epoxy primer is not a filling primer. Epoxy primer like PPG DP 90 is good as a first coat. I won't go into all the tech. stuff. Let that dry as per instructions on the can. Then use PPG K38 primer over that. Make sure you have a good mask and vent the area your working in very well. PPG makes the best epoxy primers. As for the urethane like K38 there are other good ones out there. Do not skimp on your undercoats. Forget spray bomb primers.

 

Thanks for the info an special filters for urethane I did not know that. After thinking more about it I will spray it with a gun here in the next few months as it is starting to warm up now.